Whose Problem Is This? Practical Issues in Defense and Indemnity for Retailers

Today's rapid retailing environment creates competitive pressures that can often result in defense and indemnity issues being overlooked until problems—safety, labeling, supply, or related concerns—arise. Additionally, narrow retail margins make absorbing the added expenses of resolution painful, especially when solutions often depend on the participants’ power in the marketplace rather than on legal forms (master supply agreements, purchase orders or other form agreements), which may well be in conflict, if they even exist or address the issue.

During this webinar, our speakers provided practical ways for retailers to address defense and indemnity issues within their organization and with multiple suppliers of any size or type (e.g., third-party brands, private-label products) so that they don't have to just "work through" the fallout by making do with limited resources and triaging against the potential losses. The following topics were discussed:

• "battle of the forms,"
• the benefits/costs of master supply agreements and standard terms,
• processes for on-boarding suppliers effectively,
• working with legacy suppliers, and
• the need for specific approaches to requirements such as California Proposition 65.